	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2019

Karolina Pliskova

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

N. OSAKA/K. Pliskova

6-2, 4-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It seems to me you've proven that sometimes a very good defense could be a good attack. What was your strategy for this match?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: That's tough question. I believe she played unbelievable match. To be honest, maybe her best in the life. I don't think she can repeat match like this. Amount of winners what she had, she just had very little mistakes. I don't think I did actually something wrong. I had some chances, of course I had. The chances, they were not in my hands at all. There was not much what I could do.

I was just fighting, waiting for a couple of mistakes, waiting for my shots to be aggressive. I got the chance to go to the third set. Had a couple of breakpoints. Didn't make it. She served amazing today.

I think the conditions with the roof closed were perfect for her. Not that it would be bad for me, but she just loved it maybe little bit more. Yeah, it was tough. Maybe couple points there would be different.

I'm not upset with myself just that I lost. There is nothing what I would do differently.

Q. We know you've beaten Naomi a couple times in the past. Did you feel a difference in terms of her serves or the variety compared to last time?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Of course, she's an aggressive player, so she's going to have better matches and worse matches, I think. Like I said, maybe this is her best match in the life from my kind of view. I don't think she did anything wrong really. She just went for it completely. She deserved to win, of course.

She's a great player. I didn't expect she's going to play bad match. But maybe more mistakes. I think for sure she can play with more mistakes. She didn't today.

Q. Obviously you had the challenging match yesterday. How do you recover from that super quickly?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: It was tough. For sure if there's a day in between these two matches, it would be helpful for me. Not only that the match yesterday was tough, but also was emotionally tough, too.

I was missing maybe little bit power today, too. I was doing everything possible, but little bit I was just missing here and there. That's how it is.

Normally I like to play maybe two, three days in a row matches. In this kind of stage of the tournament, when you just go deep, from Brisbane, lot of things happen. I have 15 matches in maybe last, I don't know, three weeks. That's a lot. Maybe that day would help, but that's how it is.

We don't have to talk about this.

Q. Early in the second set, it seemed like she was hitting a level where everything come off her racquet was going for winners. Looked like it might go pretty quickly. What are you telling yourself at that point? It seemed you got a little bit more aggressive, cleaned up the errors a little bit. In between the ears, what are you thinking?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I think she did one bad game, she had in the match, it was 1-All. She missed couple of easy shots which she didn't miss before and after as well. I was fighting. I was running. I was trying to play more aggressive. There was not really many shots where I could really go for it because she played so flat and so fast.

I just did everything possible. I was trying to mix my serve a little bit more, go to the body, which I don't serve that much. Just went for it, did everything possible to stay as longer on court as possible because I know there's going to be a chance, she cannot kill me 6-2, 6-2. Maybe she can, but I still have to play something good, too. That's what happened. I just went for my shots.

I played solid, but still aggressive. I got my chances in the third. I would call the set little bit unlucky because I had chances, then immediately I lost my serve. She just played little bit better maybe at some moments. She was going for it. Like I said, she was not missing much, yeah.

Q. How heavy is her ball compared to Serena and other big hitters?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: It's different. I cannot compare because the conditions are different. My feeling is every day different. It's tough to say.

For sure, Serena and Naomi, they're one of the fastest players.

Q. How is your knee feeling?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: It was same tape as yesterday. My knee is absolutely fine, so no issues.

Q. You hardly expressed your emotion on court. Is it something you do intentionally?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Sorry?

Q. You hardly express your emotion on court.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Yeah.

Q. Is it something you do consciously or naturally?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I don't know. I don't pretend anything. I guess it just comes. Obviously sometimes I can break a racquet. I have some emotions, too, even the good ones, sometimes the bad ones.

It's tennis. If you are there for two hours, it's impossible to be there without emotions.

Q. How do you think the start of the season sets you up for the rest of the season? Do you leave Melbourne with the disappointment of today or do you leave Australia thinking all the work that you did was right?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Well, of course, after every loss you kind of disappointed, especially if it's this close. But on the other hand it's my best start in my life of the season, so I don't want to be that negative. I know that the season is longer. Anything can happen.

Even if I would lose here earlier, yesterday or whatever, it's still a good start for me. I'm feeling great with my game, with my team. Everything was working what we did together, so there is no reason why to be disappointed.

Obviously I wanted to be in the final, but that's how it is. In the final there can be only two players. I'm going to have a chance in next Grand Slams, for sure.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297